


Winners and Wanting

by anthropicmoose



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Light BDSM, Misses Clause Challenge, Multi, Non-Linear Narrative, Other, Yuletide, Yuletide 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 10:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2809607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropicmoose/pseuds/anthropicmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which cool, collected Danny Lawrence finds herself helpless in the face of a fancy opera date with Laura Hollis. Fortunately Team Redhead has come to help, but Danny will end this night as helpless as she began it. Lots of fluff, strong hints of various fanon, light kink with dominant Laura, and a foosball table macguffin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winners and Wanting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aqualined (inabstract)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inabstract/gifts).



Danny Lawrence was a mess.

She generally liked to think that she had her life in pretty good order, given what she had to work with. She TAs an English class, which involves no small amounts of preparatory reading of obscure and eldritch literature (and worse, freshmen term papers). She leads the Summer Society, with all the organizational skills and alpha female grit that requires. She even manages to get out to the occasional party once in a new moon. None of this, however, seemed to matter in the face of what was rapidly becoming the greatest struggle of her college life.

“Lawrence,” Laf said grimly, “you are so screwed.”

Danny covered her face in the far-too-small dress and groaned, falling backwards onto her laundry-strewn bed.

“Don’t talk like that, LaFontaine,” Perry said primly, picking the dress off of Danny’s face and hanging it neatly next to the dozen or so other rejects. “We have, after all, cleaned up bigger messes than this before.”

“Yeaaah…” Laf said skeptically, clasping Danny’s hand with their own and hauling her off the bed into a standing position. They looked her up and down. “Bigger maybe, but not taller.” 

Danny swung at them grouchily, forcing them to duck and retreat back to the relative safety of Perry’s No-Nonsense Zone. They crouched behind Perry with a playful grin on their face, gripping Perry’s hips lightly in a way that would have made Danny raise an eyebrow a year ago. Perry, for her part, seemed not to notice, but smiled at Danny sympathetically.

“Come have a seat, dear.” she said, patting the desk chair next to her as she picked up a hair brush. “You’re far too worked up, and I think LaFontaine and I could use a little inspiration. Why don’t you tell us how exactly this all came about?”

Danny gave Perry a grateful, pathetic smile, taking out her ponytail as she sat down. Perry started running the brush through her long (and tangled) red hair.

“Well,” Danny mused, closing her eyes and leaning back. “I guess it started with those study sessions…”

\------

A heavy old tome came hurtling out the library window, followed closely behind by an airborne Laura Hollis. She did her best to roll when she hit the ground, but by the time Danny followed her out the window, landing in a low crouch, Laura was already rubbing her tailbone, an expression somewhere between a grimace and a smile on her face.

"Well," she said with a hint of that determined Hollis cheer, "I did better at the landing this time!"

"Yeah, this time I didn't have to fish you out of the rosebushes." Danny replied with a grin, giving Laura a hand up. As she did, she counted the gleams of several eyes scattered nearby in the shadows and corners of campus. She gave a curt shake of her head, flashed an appreciative smile, and the eyes rapidly faded away before Laura noticed anything.

"What I don't get, Hollis," Danny continued, turning back to Laura, "is why you insist on us studying in the library so late. Everyone else knows better, there's a reason why the place clears out as soon as the sun goes down. Well," Danny picked a catalogue card out of her hair. “A lot of reasons, actually.”

Laura made a dismissive sound 

"It's the only time the place is quiet enough to get any real work done, obviously." she replied, brushing herself off and not meeting Danny’s gaze. "And besides, then we get to, um, exercise afterwards! Exercise is good way to break up studying!"

Danny raised an eyebrow at that.

"Uh huh. All those youtube videos we were watching together were really educa - are you blushing?"

"W-What are you talking about?" Laura said, quickly turning, and walking towards the cafeteria a little too stiffly. "Come on, we should hurry if, um, if we want good seats!"

Danny threw a curious look at Laura. Was she... flustered? Danny bit her lip, thinking for a second before easily catching up to her.

"You know, you could always join the Summer Society if you're looking for exercise." she said, her tone staying, y'know, mostly casual. "We've got sporting events we hold all the time. Nothing competitive or anything, just pick-up games."

"Oh, well, you know, I don't really play sports." Laura said, half-laughing at herself. Danny shrugged.

"Why not?"

"Um, why not? Uhhh. Well, I just never really found one I liked, that's all!"

"Well," said Danny. "That's easy to solve. I can introduce you to a bunch of sports. I'm sure I could find at least one you like." Laura looked up at her, quirking her own eyebrow dubiously.

"No one has before."

"There’s bound to be at least one you'll like at least more than escaping the library. Come on, lets make a bet!" Danny was excited now, getting caught up in the idea. "If I can't find a game you like in one week, I'll study with you wherever you want for the rest of the semester." Laura raised her eyebrows, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

"And if you do find something I like?" she said, her voice acquiring a certain mischievousness that made Danny pause, ever so briefly.

"I - I dunno, you'll take me out to a nice dinner or something." Danny said quickly, popping out the first thing that came to mind. Ugh, crap, she'd be doing so good! She dared a glance down at Laura, hoping she hadn't gone too far. But Laura looked strangely... satisfied?

"Deal." she said simply, and pushed open the doors to the cafeteria. Danny followed her, and if there was a slight sinking feeling in her stomach, it was ignored in favor of the butterflies in her chest.

\------

 

Laf was making ridiculous faces.

Alright, sure. Danny could admit it wasn’t the best story in the world, and it made her sound like a total dork. It wasn’t that bad though, and she wasn’t even done yet, and Laf didn’t need to make faces like that at her.

Or… not at her? At someone behind her?

“Okay, we’re all done! Would you like to take a look?” Perry spoke up suddenly, handing Danny a mirror. The view made her eyebrows shoot up.

"Wow, Per..." Danny said, awe evident in her tone as she turned her head back and forth. "This is magical."

Laf coughed suddenly and loudly and Per stiffly ignored her, smiling at Danny.

"Oh, it was nothing dear. You have such lovely hair to work with! Now," she gently but firmly pushed Danny off of the bed and over into the tiny dorm room bathroom. "LaFontaine here will help you with your makeup, okay hun? You just... keep telling your story! I'll be listening from the other room."

Danny looked in the mirror, biting her lower lip, as Laf appeared in the doorway behind her.

"You don't want to wear makeup, do you," they said, more a statement than a question.

Danny shook her head with a little grin. Laf grinned back, and shut the door behind them.

"Per's stuck on the stuff, and that's cool." Laf said with a shrug as they opened up a small briefcase they'd brought in with them. "But me? I'm all about smell beauty. Biochemistry, baby. Here, hold still."

Danny had to bend down to let Laf reach up and snip a hair, and by the time they'd gotten everything laid out, she wasn't sure what was going to happen with it, but the maniacal grin on Laf's face as she started up a bunsen burner was a little concerning.

"You, uh, you okay there LaFontaine?" Danny asked. Laf looked up, smiling brightly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good! Hey, uh, just take a seat on the toilet and keep telling your story while I get this all set up. Come on! What'd you find that Hollis liked?"

Danny groaned at that, and started back up.

\--------------------

Look, no one ever accused Laura of being unathletic. Cute and small, sure. Adorable and dorky, yeah. Mischievously attractive when she started - right, sorry, off topic. Point was, it wasn't that Danny ever underestimated Laura, or went easy on her.

Laura Hollis was just an absolute nightmare at foosball.

Yeah. Foosball. Who would have guessed it.

Danny hadn't. Neither had the dozen or so Zetas that had fallen before her. Laura would have been accused of hustling if Danny hadn't sworn up and down on her honor as a sister of the Summer Society that Laura had never touched a foosball table before. That didn't stop some Zetas from muttering darkly as they reluctantly gave up their cash, but most were like Kirsch - easily defeated, and then fanatically enthusiastic about the matches that followed.

Danny tagged back in for the last match, and it seemed to go on forever. Maybe it did - the sun was certainly down by the time they finished, and they were both breathing hard. Danny had lost (again), but she was grinning ear to ear looking at Laura's triumphant face. 

"Holy crap, I did it!" Laura said, practically jumping around in excitement. (An excitement she hadn't shown when beating the Zetas, Danny noted). "I actually won!"

"We both won," Danny said, laughing along with her before they plopped down on a nearby couch with the Zetas cheering around them. Laura's stomach rumbled audibly, and Kirsch apparently took that as a call to action.

"Come on, bros!" he said, as he leapt to his feet. "We can't let the victorious hottie go hungry! It's time to show her and the Summer Society bro how good Zetas are at cooking!"

Which promptly left Danny and Laura conspicuously alone. Well. That was... suspiciously convenient.

"So, what does 'we both won' mean?" Laura asked, giving Danny a look.

"You won the match, but I won the bet. We finally found a sport you like."

"Foosball counts as a sport?"

"There's world championships and everything!"

Laura giggled, and reached to grab Danny's hand. Danny tensed for a moment, until Laura adopted a formal expression.

"Well done, victor." she said, shaking hands solemnly. Danny mostly managed to suppress her grin and look solemn in return.

"A fine showing on your part, my lady." she replied, and handed Laura the stack of loose cash that represented her winnings. "To the victor, the spoils."

Laura took it somewhat sheepishly, before her eyes got that mischievous glint that made Danny's breath catch a little.

"Sooo..." she said, looking down and idly counting the money. "I owe you a nice dinner now, right?"

"Oh! Um, yeah, I mean... don't worry about that," Danny said, suddenly nervously laughing. "I'm, y'know, just glad we found something you liked."

"No no, it's only fair!" Laura insisted earnestly, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "We had a deal, and I'm going to honor it! With all this, we could even go see a show. Do you like opera, by any chance?"

"Uh, yeah, of course!" Danny said immediately, lying through her teeth.

"Yes!" Laura beamed. "You know Natasha Neglovanis, right? She's performing this weekend at the theater in town. Will you come with me?"

There was really only one answer to that question.

\-------

LaFontaine smirked. At her. Danny tried to outstare her with a defiant pout. It didn’t work.

“...What.” she asked, finally. Laf’s smirk turned into a grin and they shrugged casually.

“Nah, it’s nothing man… Just, I’ve never known you to not be able to say no to someone before.”

Danny blinked at that, then blushed furiously. Laf rolled their eyes with a smile, and took the glass stopper out of a nearby chemistry beaker.

“Here, smell this,” Laf had started saying, holding the bottle out to Danny, but they needn’t have bothered. Danny’s nose caught the first whiff and her eyes widened as she tried to process all of the subtle scents within in it. It was like… a song. No, a symphony, one that had her own essence as the main theme. She couldn’t even identify all the different scents, (very unusual for her), but that didn’t stop her from appreciating the whole.

“You are a faerie god,” she said, looking at Laf, who was casually spinning a vial through their fingers.

“Better. I’m a scientist. And one who isn’t afraid to bring a little hydrochloric acid home with me.” Laf left the mess of beakers and bunsen burner on the table and leapt to their feet, knocking on the bathroom door. “Per? You all done in there?”

“Just a second!” came Perry’s hurried voice through the door.

“Done?” Danny’s brow furrowed. “Done with what?”

Laf rolled her eyes at the door. “She’s gotta go now, Per, she told Laura she’d meet her outside in 5 minutes!”

“I know, I know, just give me -”

Laf opened the door at almost the same time Perry did, the two of them practically tumbling into each other. Danny tried to help them untangle themselves, but Perry waved her off.

“I’m fine, really,” she said, amusement warring with annoyance on her face. “Go try on that dress over there, the black - yes, that’s the one.”

Danny held up a particularly slinky number dubiously. “We tried this one, remember? It was gorgeous, but it was pretty much a floofy tanktop on me.”

“Oh, I did a few things here and there - go on, try it!”

Danny sighed and slipped out of her standby PJs and into the dress. It was hopeless at this point anyway, so why not. At least her friends seemed to have fun fretting over her, even if it was doomed from the beginning. You just didn’t fit shoulders like hers into a dress like this… did you?

Danny couldn’t stop looking at herself in the mirror. Even when she slipped on her heels, her shocked expression was still staring back at her. She was… she was hot.

“That.... is classy as fuck.” Laf said, nodding at her appearance in the mirror.

“Perry… how…” Danny began, still stunned, but Perry was already helping her into her coat.

“Oh, it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little needle and thread.” she said hurriedly. “But don’t worry about that now, go go go! You’re going to be late!”

Laughing and grateful, Danny pulled them both into a giant hug, telling them how much they were both the best before she dashed out the door at a sprint, heels and all. Perry and LaFontaine watched her go, both smiling.

“Our big puppy’s all grown up,” Laf said, shaking her head fondly. Perry put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“She’ll do great. And she smelled great, too! How much of a mess am I going to find the bathroom in now?”

“Oh, umm…” Laf said, edging towards the door while facing Perry. “A big mess. A huge one. In fact, you better go check it out right now, I just have to, um, run to the lab to-”

Perry darted forward and snatched the short length of wood from behind Laf’s back.

“How in the world - “ Perry said, darting away from Laf’s counter grab. “Oh! When you fell into me earlier. How many times do I have to tell you, LaFontaine, this is not a toy! And besides, it’s no good to you anyway.”

“Ughhh, come on, Per! Just a few experiments, please? You altered that dress! You literally manipulated matter!”

“I didn’t do anything a seamstress couldn’t have done,” Perry sniffed.

“Yeah, but,” Laf said, slowly working her way towards Per. “You’re not a seamstress. You’re a -”

And then Perry cut her off with a kiss.

\-------

Natasha Neglovanis was great. Really, really great. Incredibly talented, even.

At least, that’s what Laura had been told.

Of course, she was never going to find out just how great from up here in the theater’s dark attic, but somehow she found she didn’t mind.

The sounds Danny was making under her touch were way better than opera.

Laura tightened her grip in Danny’s hair just a bit further and was rewarded by another moan and a faint, whispered word. Danny’s hips bucked against Laura’s other hand, which had it’s fingers making frustratingly slow and consistent circular motions right where it couldn’t have been any more pleasurable.

“Was that a... ‘please’ I heard?” Laura asked softly, her breath falling against Danny’s collarbone as she spoke. Danny moaned again and nodded desperately, which was all the encouragement Laura needed. Her fingers switched up the motion and increased the intensity, eliciting a reaction almost instantly.

Danny bucked, back arching, until, with a long, shuddering gasp, she fell from her position up against a wall to her knees on the floor. Laura withdrew her fingers smoothly, easing and guiding the statuesque redhead down onto all fours as Danny’s muscles quivered, and her back arched slowly up and down. Her quick breathing left her mouth open, and Laura lightly ran two fingers along Danny’s lips, biting her own lower one in satisfaction and excitement as she did. Danny looked up at her, looking dazed but smiling.

“I thought… you wanted… to see the opera…” Danny panted, teasing. Laura gave her a dangerous smile, and slid those two fingers into Danny’s mouth. Danny was shocked only for a moment, before her lips closed tight around them and she sucked on them, letting out a little moan.

“And I thought you wanted this,” Laura said softly. “Was I wrong?”

Danny shook her head slowly, her tongue sliding around Laura’s fingers as she looked up at her. Laura giggled a little, pleased, and slid her fingers out to rest her hand against Danny’s neck.

“But… how did you know?” Danny asked, her voice softer, almost a whisper. Laura giggled.

“I didn’t! I mean, you kept coming to study with me, so I had hope, but I thought I was the one with the hopeless crush!” Laura was laughing at herself as she loosened her tie, sliding it up over her head. “I mean, you always came to study when I asked, so I had some hope but…” With a deft movement, she slipped it over Danny’s head and around her neck, holding the long end of it above her like a leash. “Then I saw you in that dress. That… impossible dress. If you wore that for me, then, well…” 

With a sudden tug on the tie-turned-leash, Danny’s head was pulled up and she gasped, quickly following the direction and rising from all fours to a standing kneel. With their height difference, that put her head just below Laura’s. Still looking up at her, but so, so much closer now.

“Then you had to want me.... desperately.” Laura breathed, sliding the tie to the front of Danny’s neck. “Was I wrong?”

Danny straightened up the last inch, kissing Laura fiercely, hungrily, as Laura pulled her in close, her hands back in Danny’s gorgeously done up hair, causing long strands of it to fall this way and that. Laura used the grip on her hair to suddenly turn Danny’s head to the side, exposing her neck. Her lips somehow found just the right spot, and Danny let out a cry that seemed to echo and multiply outside the theater itself, as though the cry were being taken up again and again by other voices.

The next morning, no one could agree about whether the howling heard around campus last night was from dogs... or wolves.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear aqualined,
> 
> Merry Christmas! This was my first ever Yuletide, so I'm still learning a lot of things, and didn't realize I could leave notes for you until after Christmas already came. Hopefully you come back and see them!
> 
> Your prompt was pretty much everything I wanted in terms of themes, and I wound up homing in on slice-of-life and chosen family almost instantly. I actually wasn't intending to write anything more steamy, and then it just kind of came together at the end? I hope you like kinky!Laura! 
> 
> Fun facts, we actually matched on Better Off Ted. But then, reading through your prompts, I was inspired to watch both Carmilla and Nozaki-kun and fell in love with both immediately. Thank you for that, I may not have discovered them without you and they're both basically the best. I also immediately decided I loved Danny, and thus this fic was born.
> 
> Special thanks to laura47, without whom I would have never finished or even joined Yuletide in the first place! Also thank you to Creampuffs in general, there's nothing like an awesome fandom to make a show that much more fun to watch.
> 
> I hope you're having an excellent Christmas, and enjoy your fic!


End file.
